Hi everyone,
We’re back with another update on the March 23rd Massdrop x Noble Kaiser 10 Custom In-Ear Monitor drop. Noble has just informed us that production is complete and the IEMs are entering the quality control process as we speak. With that said, they are running a few days behind schedule and you can expect to see movement in your shipment the following week (week of August 27).
We apologize for the slight delay, but are excited for you to receive your Massdrop x Noble Kaiser Custom In-Ear Monitors soon.

In the last picture is that the standard cable or the balanced? That one at least has the Noble y splitter. Mine looks like Zekken‘s that has a little plastic sleeving instead of a y splitter. I have other Noble IEMs and the cables were all better than this one.

Good job on the updates, Massdrop. You'd think a $1300 bespoke item would warrant a touch better customer care, but alas. Anyway, I got my notification of shipping two days after the IEMs had arrived, seven days after they shipped. It's fortunate I was not depending on Massdrop for shipping info, as I might not have known to be around. Please do better next time, and while you're at it, how about an occasional update yourselves? @jimatNoble was good enough to post from time to time, but that should have not been up to him. I'd prefer they spend the time on making awesome monitors!

Production is on schedule. The only hiccup is that all Noble staff will be in Japan for one week attending a show starting on October 23rd. We are trying to make sure that the U.S. addressed CIEMs get to the U.S. before the 22nd so they can be shipped prior to our departure for Japan. If the CIEMs don't make it to the U.S. in time, then they will be shipped out on Nov. 1. All non-US addressed customers will not be affected.

I received my kaiser 10’s last week - they fit and sound great. However they are supposed to be red carbon glass, but appear black. Under very bright light, you can make out a few pieces of carbon fibre, but it does not look at all like the photo . I guess someone mixed the colour wrong for the acrylic pour- making it way too dark. Also the top isn’t buffed as shiny as the rest of the shell. I am sure I am not the only one complaining about this.... can anything be done? Thanks

I was part of the late March drop and also just received an email stating that they do not have my impressions. It is absolutely unacceptable to tell me my shipment wasn't received 5 months after it was shipped. The finished CIEMs were supposed to ship last week!
It was clearly stated on the Massdrop drop page that "Noble must receive tracking info on the impressions within 6 weeks of the drop completing, or your order will be canceled and refunded—no exceptions or extensions." Why, if my impressions were not received, did no one from Massdrop or Noble contact me 5 months ago?
Like others who have had this issue, I shipped my package to the Santa Barbara office before they moved to Texas. My package had an estimated delivery date of May 10th, which was a day before Massdrop sent the email notifying us of the Noble location change.
I am extraordinarily angry about how unprofessional both Massdrop and Noble have been. This situation could have easily been averted if Noble provided confirmation of receiving impressions. Instead we were told if you hear nothing then you're all set. They've had my $1250 for 6 months and have not been working to deliver me the product I paid for.
I've reached out to both Massdrop and Noble to discuss how to proceed, however, I'm not sure I want to support a company who thinks this is an appropriate way of conducting business.

I received an email today from Massdrop saying they never received my ear impressions. I'm pretty upset cause I had them sent before the deadline and tracked them and know they were delivered to the address in Santa Barbara before the move of Nobel. We were assured that the packages would be forwarded to the lab. I'm pretty pissed and I almost would like to demand a refund cause I don't really have the time or desire to get new impressions made and pay for them again. I've already been waiting for months and this is unacceptable.
I've emailed them back and I checked my tracking app's archive to confirm when they were delivered. But USPS Priority doesn't even have them in their system any more cause of how long its been.
I followed the instructions to the letter including my info inside the box to ensure they knew who's they were. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed right now. This should be handled much better for a set of almost $1200 IEMs.
Anyone else have this issue?
- Jonathan

I was waiting for a shipping notification, only to come home after a weekend trip with my nobles on the front porch. Glad that we didn't have any package thieves around! I got my Nobles on 09/24, shipping notification on 10/03, delivery email on 10/04 that stated it delivered on 09/24.

The cables have a pull strength of 147 pounds. I've tried to break them by hand and just ended up hurting myself. We do plan on selling upgraded cables in the near future. Probably starting in December.

Today I received a mail which said my ear impression is not received and my order is going to be cancelled if I did not reply soon. I was in the April drop and I sent my ear impression at late May. I also sent a mail to noble to make sure they are aware of the tracking number. The tracking number also said it is delivered. No one contacted me after that and I could only assume my ear impression is received. I am really disappointed about the Massdrop and noble customer service.

I received the same email. I was in the March 23 drop, and sent my impressions in at the end of April. I'm disappointed too, especially after MD's guidance after Noble's move to Texas was that "no email = no further action needs to be taken" I'm hoping that this is just a communication issue between Noble and Massdrop, and not that my impressions were lost... waiting for further word from MD.

Hi! Just want to ask anyone who got their Kaiser 10 CIEM, do your CIEM color too dark compared to the photo of the original shown in the Massdrop project picture?
Today I have to check again my order which color I choose which is "Red Carbon" (on the order receipt) but the Red Carbon is just too little and overall seems like Black with some red accent in it.
Is this some kind of the "Wizard" magic work?
B

I have the same issue with an incomplete seal on the left - I had two impression made by the same audiologist on that day, one went towards some custom ear plugs and the other to Noble. The custom ear plugs seal great, and the right side of the Noble seals up well too. The left canal looks like it doesn't extend as far (my canals may just be weird), but I'll reach out to Jim & see about a refit as well. Too much noise leakage on the plane, but sounds good in a quiet environment!

Hey Everyone,
Reminder to please ship the impressions with a copy of your order receipt:
-Some are mailing in impressions without including a copy of the order receipt.
-Some impressions are arriving with just a hand-written last name that can be difficult to read.
Noble is doing their best to match things up against the information that we provided them, this will make it faster and smoother.
How do you get a copy of your order Receipt?
-Your profile dropdown menu (at your picture in the top right hand corner) has Transactions section
-Find the Kaiser 10 transaction and click on the word, "RECEIPT"
-RECEIPT is actually a button that will pull up a printable Order Receipt.
Thanks for working with us as we get this new Custom IEM drop rolling!

For many Audiophiles, the ultimate listening experience is a top of the line set of custom fit in-ear monitors.
The level of fit, comfort, seal, sonic performance, and aesthetic beauty is at the peak with custom IEMs.
Fit: the shells of a custom IEM are static, they are built to be slightly larger than your ear canals to create a good seal for your unique ear shape…your ear is soft and will wrap around them. They do not exert outward (spring-like) pressure such as universal silicone or foam tips need in order to create a seal. This means a good pair are incredibly comfortable. If you compare some custom IEMs from a couple of people, you can easily see just how different all of our ears are. (No fiddling with tips is kinda nice too.)
Sonic performance: Custom fit IEM nozzles are made to bring the sound closer to the eardrum and bypass as much of the ear as possible for a sound signature consistent to the design target. Superior seal and isolation (these were originally created to save stage musicians from losing their hearing) means that you have a very quiet environment to hear your music (less outside interference) and should have no loss of bass (which happens with a lack of good seal).
Custom Looks: Because each pair is made by hand for your ears only…you can choose from some different aesthetic options. When they show up, there should not be any bubbles or unpolished areas- they should be perfect little sculptures.
With Noble’s more than a decade of experience in custom fit, the Wizard’s reputation for the best-looking custom designs, one of the highest-rated TOTL sound signatures of all time in the Kaiser 10, Massdrop naturally wanted to offer the Noble Kaiser 10 as our flagship custom-fit in-ear monitor.I have always said that if the house was on fire and I could only grab ONE audiophile thing, I’d choose my “customs”. (Okay, I might try to grab my crazy tube amp because it cost so much, but you get the point.)

Portable Hi-Fi? Asia has been into portable hi-fi audio for a long time.The portable size fits the mass transit commuter and multi-generational smaller home lifestyles.
But the evolution of quality and the retail infrastructure are huge contributors to the phenomenon...Tokyo Headphone Stores & Headphone Festivals – Fujiya Avic
Easier to shop in Asia:

I'll be in Tokyo for the Headphone Festival next month after I attend the SoCal CanJam.
We've done the legwork for you in offering one of the best custom IEMs of all time: the Noble Kaiser 10.
Portable Rigs back in 2012 (one is my good friend Chris Brown’s):

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The truth today is that these Noble K10 Customs will sound fantastic out of your cell phone. Having custom-fit top of the line in-ear monitors with your current cell phone is hi-fi quality that we couldn’t imagine getting a few years ago without a lot of effort. Use them travelling, at home, in the office, or at school. I don’t think anything is better on a plane for blocking out noise and getting some nice time with your content.
You can customize your sound playback further with a small DAC or amp to use with your phone and there are lots of great new dedicated music players…but the critical main ingredient (after good music choices) is the in-ear monitor.
Don’t run out of your house without them.

Hi all -
We have a quick update for you on the Massdrop x Noble Kaiser 10 Custom In-Ear Monitors drop. We’ve sent out an email to everyone in this drop with the below information.
In an effort to streamline their operations, Noble has moved its US headquarters to Texas. If you have previously sent your ear impression in to Noble's old address and haven't heard anything back, then you're all set and don't need to do anything else. They are still checking mail at this address, so previously sent items will be received for the time being.
If you haven't sent your ear impression in yet, please send your ear impressions to Noble’s new address:
Noble Audio c/o Jim Moulton, 109 Hwy. 110 S, Whitehouse, Texas 75791.
If you need any assistance or have any questions, Noble is available at noblehifi@gmail.com, and you can always go to your transactions page to connect with Massdrop support.

Never would. "Rico" means delicious and when used for a person it has a heavy sexual connotation in Puerto Rico. No Puerto Rican parent is looking forward to naming a child with a sexual word like that.

I sent an email to the Noble email (Gmail one) given to me by support to change my shipping address about 10 days ago but haven't received a response from them yet. I'll be really upset if this ships to my old address as I actually moved from PR to Florida! That wasn't in my plans when I ordered this, but hey, the lead time was pretty long!

Mid of August update has come and gone with no response. It is somewhat ambiguous and it may mean different to good people at MD. Let’s keep our hopes up. At least we have definite ship date of August 21!